From dull food that was boring with little variety to fancy meals of seemingly endless courses with a bewildering array of utensils to more austere meals during war time; from heavy breakfasts to cereal for a quick start to the day; learn when drinking milk was patriotic, cracking peanuts was sound pollution, and the many firsts with something called Cracker Jacks ;-) .... Three Squares: the Invention of the American Meal, by Abigal Carroll, is history of how we eat. Very interesting with some fun surprises along the way. As regular readers of this blog know, I love a good social history book!

My mother had a box of pamphlet type books with all sorts of recipes that looked a lot like the ones featured in The Gallery of Regrettable Food, by Jame Lileks. Even back then they looked awful! Was it the film? Or the lighting? Fortunately, she never tried any of them. An interesting book, but I would avoid it just before mealtime!

As with other cartoons by Chas Adams, I laughed at many and was puzzled by some in the collection found in Half-Baked Cookbook: Culinary Cartoons for the Humorously Famished.

Reading Hermit With Dog